the white house on the eve of the inauguration, a reminder, i'll be back tomorrow night at 9:00 live on my inauguration day special from washington. i'll be joined by the president's inner circle, david axelrod, jim macina, stephanie cutter and many others. that's all for us. have a good night tonight. good morning, everyone. welcome to this very special edition of "early start weekend." it is sunday, january 20th. glad you're with us, i'm randi kaye. >> i'm john burrman.

glad to see you here this morning. we're live on the national mall as we gear up for the 57th presidential inauguration. today is the official swearing in of president barack obama for his second term. that will happen at 11:55 a.m. eastern time this morning. >> in just two hours, vice president joe biden will take his oath of office and all day long, cnn will bring you the ceremonies, the concerts, the celebrations and, of course, the political and the historical context of the day. first, we want to bring you up to date now on the hostage situation that is happening in alger algeria. the crisis is all over this morning, but so many questions, including how many people are still missing. here's what we do know at this hour. it launched a second assault yesterday that ended the standoff after three days. the interior ministry almost 700 hostages have been freed, as

long with foreigners at least 23 hostages are dead, including three british citizens and so are dozens of islamic militants. i'm joined by our pentagon correspondent barbara starr. first of all, are any americans missing and what is washington saying at this point? >> good morning, randi. this violent and unstable situation over, but the u.s. is still trying to determine what happened. now, according to the state department. one american man, one american citizen is dead. six other american hostages were freed and it is believed there are still a small number of americans unaccounted for. so many other nations, eight countries had had citizens there also trying to resolve the status of their people. the white house issued a statement last night saying that the obama administration was in close contact with the algerian government, but still trying to, "gain a fuller understanding of

what exactly happened there and what the situation is now." that's really where it stands. still trying to determine from the algerians what transpired. they cracked down on these terrorists very quickly. the loss of the hostages' lives. but this is something that the algerians clearly wanted something to make clear. they were going to handle themselves and they handled it as they saw fit. randi? >> but they're certainly getting a lot of criticism coming out yesterday for trying to launch this attack to try to end it. what are the rest of the world and the leaders saying about this assault and how it all went down? >> that is exactly the question. publicly they are saying that absolutely the violence was the result of the attack by this group of militants, but right now what this poses for intelligence services around the world and especially for the u.s. is a very crucial question. al qaeda in north africa. if they were responsible for

this, as they claim, is this a new front in al qaeda's war against the west. you know, there is some thought that maybe this was a very preplanned, sophisticated attack. these militants showed up heavily armed, deep into the algerian desert. they didn't just show up there, they had a plan. is this something the obama administration is going to have to deal with. if these countries do not want the outside help and they don't want u.s. assistance in there, how will the obama administration deal with al qaeda in north africa? this is now one of the key questions on the table. randi. >> barbara starr, thank you very much for your reporting. some other news now, we have shocking video to show you from a political convention in bulgaria. we do want to warn you, it is fairly shocking. you can see a man running to the stage and pulling his gun. oh, my goodness.

luckily, it fails to fire. the would-be assassin was targeting the leader of a minority party in bulgaria. before he could try to fire, again, he was pushed, tackled and beaten. stunning. honda has announced its second major recall in just over a month, again, because of a problem with their odyssey minivans and suvs. some of the airbags may have been put together incorrectly and not deploy when you need them. they are recalling 750,000 vehicles. sad news for baseball fans. stan the man has died. i'm talking about baseball hall of famer stan musial. one of the best that every played the game. still ranks fourth all time in hits. he played 22 seasons and after his retirement became one of the game's great ambassadors. >> he played for years and years and never got thrown out of the game. classy, classy guy.

so, organizers are expecting 800,000 people to attend tomorrow's public inauguration and with any major event here in washington, security is always a big concern. this one especially big. cnn pentagon correspondent chris lawrence joins us now. chris, what role is the military going to play in keeping everyone safe? >> hey, john, yeah. they're going to be about 6,000 national guard troops here in the city helping a lot of those federal agencies, d.c. police and other officers supplementing them to help people get around and help you keep an eye on things. there will also be another couple thousand stationed just outside the city just in case. kind of a joint command center that is just set up and it is going to start running today. in fact, six hours from now, the d.c. police are going to be

deputizing 2,000 to 3,000 other officers from all around the country who will be here working for the next couple of days trying to keep people safe. >> chris, now, we have said some 800,000 people are expected to be here. that is a smaller crowd than four years ago. how does the crowd size affect the security decisions? >> it affects everything. i mean, last time when i was here four years ago, i think the count was something near 10,000 buses rolled into the city. this year there has only been about 800 registered to come. that gives you an idea of how different the scope is going to be. last time, federal agencies ordered probably the largest order they had ever done for bulletproof glass. the size of the crowd, nearly 2 million people and some of the rising threats to the new president made keeping the president safe the priority.

it was very much on sort of the front of everyone's mind that there could be some security risks with that sort of crowd there. this year with a smaller crowd and no credible threats right now, they say the real goal is to get people where they're going. they don't want thousands of people trapped in tunnels or unable to get down here and, mostly, they want people to have fun and enjoy the next couple days. john? >> chris, if you are one of the 800,000 people headed here for the inauguration. anything special they should be keeping in mind, besides, you know, staying warm. >> yeah, just a couple of the things that i think we have all gotten so used to post-september 11 t. if you're out on the parade route, you can't bring a thermos or a backpack. if you're down at the capitol watching the inauguration, you can't bring baby strollers on the ground of the capital. the one thing to keep in mind, do not try to argue the merits

of these rules with these security officers because they don't take kindly to those kind of arguments, john. >> that is fantastic advice. you will not win those arguments. chris lawrence here on the national mall. great to see you this morning. not just law enforcement gearing up for tomorrow's festivities. >> that was good advice for chris. cell phone providers are getting up on the action stepping up coverage to keep you connected. how do they do it? here's a hint for you, cows. >> cows? >> we'll explain. officemax can help you drive supply costs down... and down. use your maxperks card and get a 10-ream case of officemax multiuse paper for just 4.99 after maxperks rewards. find thousands of big deals now... at officemax.

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[ female announcer ] to nurses everywhere, thank you, from johnson & johnson. good morning, washington. and welcome to "early start weekend." look at that incredible shot of our set. >> i was going to say, that's my good side right there. >> okay. i'll agree with you on that one.

bringing you the show live from the national mall. i'm randi kaye along with john berman. sleeves rolled up, plasting gloves on chomping on some gum, the president and first lady got to work at a school in d.c. yesterday. the first couple took part in the national day of service. mr. obumma started the tradition during his first inauguration to honor the memory of martin luther king jr. the biden family got to work saturday. the vice president along with his wife and several members of his family spent time filling some care packages. 100,000 care kits will be shipped to family members overseas. tomorrow is the big day. the public inauguration, the 57th presidential inauguration. and if you're one of the 800,000 people expected to attend, you're going to want to make sure those text messages, those tweets, those instagrams all go through. wireless providers say they have you covered. athena jones joins us from the

capitol. they're going to get help from something called cows. what are we talking about here? >> good morning, john. cow stands for cell on wheels. a temporary mobile cell phone tower. things like companies like at&t and sprint will fortify the network with all the people coming in. half the number of people expected in 2009 but people will be coming with smartphones and smartphones means more data. back in 2009, global smartphone sales only accounted for 11% of sales. now it's nearly 40% as of the most recent numbers. that's a lot more people putting a lot more demands on the network. >> it's really interesting that everyone is taking this into consideration here, i have to say. what are some tips that you can give to all of us to make sure we get our messages through? >> it's a good thing they're planning for this. they know people will take pictures and videos and everyone

gets excited and share with their friends and show they're there in a special place on this special day. focus on texts. much easier to send a text. takes a lot less band width than to talk on the phone or send a picture or large video. try to shrink the photo down. make the photo as small as possible so it has a higher chance of getting through. another good option is to take your photos, take your videos and save them so you can send them later. even with this fortification and even with these extra cell phone towers, it's to help make sure that more things go through. it is not 100% guaranteed that everything you send are going to get through. texts are the most likely to get through. back to you guys. >> tweet us right now, send us your instagrams. randi is right here doing it right now. >> i was taking photos to see if

we can get them out or not. we'll take some photos and send them on out. if you have any photos, deaf ininately, post them and send them to us. that means the drinks are going to be flowing. >> not yet, of course, it's our official story right now. when happy hour does hit, what do the presidents' order? we'll take you through cocktail history. so...how'd it go? well, dad, i spent my childhood living with monks learning the art of dealmaking. you've mastered monkey-style kung fu? no. priceline is different now. you don't even have to bid. master hahn taught you all that? oh, and he says to say (translated from cantonese) "you still owe him five bucks." your accent needs a little work.

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it's a beautiful look at

washington, d.c., in the wee hours of the morning. welcome back, i'm john berman along with randi kaye. president obama has something new on his limousine for this inauguration weekend. we'll show it to you here. at the bottom it says taxation without representation. washington, d.c. dmv put that on plates 13 years ago. the district city council passed a resolution last week asking the president to change his plates, he did. >> there they are. we all know what it takes to throw a good party, even an inauguration party. good friends, good food and maybe a good cocktail or two. what does that mean here in washington? >> when it comes to political parties, none bigger than a presidential inaugration, like any good celebration, it requires the right spirit. perhaps best served with a little bit of history.

derek brown of washington's columbia room describes a long tradition linking presidents and cocktails. >> there's the entertainment side of it. presidents are also just people. >> reporter: starting with a founding father who operated his own whiskey distillery. >> reporter: through fdr who put liquor back on the table. >> he enjoyed cocktails, he enjoyed scotch and champagne. the main reason we revere him is because he was part of . jtk was known for drinking one particular drink, which is the daiquiri. which is a very washington, d.c., drink. it first came to the united states in 1909 in washington, d.c., where it was served at the navy. >> reporter: as for what might be in the current president's dmrasz, other than the white

house brewed craft beer, brown is not spilling. >> what else he drinks is a matter of a state secret, i guess. us bartenders who work in washington, d.c., we realize one thing. we want a second term. we don't say what politicians drink. >> i just loved the big square ice there. it just looks so elegant. >> nice to drink that way. forget about all the politics for a second. this weekend is also about the celebrations. >> last night brook balduan got to check out one of the ina inaugural balls. >> saturday night inside the convention center. usher just came out on stage. huge game. katy perry, mindless behavior. they're all here, of course, because this whole idea very

near and dear to the hearts of dr. biden and the first lady of the united states to honor the military men and women and their families and the children. this place is packed with kids who are so excited to see people like usher. i talked to nick canon he is hosting this whole thing and i said, why is this so important to you surrounding yourself with military children? here's what he told me. >> this is amazing. i mean, there's a lot of balls going on in the next few days, but i feel like this is one of the most important. for the military families and it also focuses on their children. to be able to pay respect to the service of our military then at the same time, honor the kids. it's a beautiful thing. >> this place is packed, 5,500 people. some of them are students at d.c. public schools a way for the white house to give back to the community and also children from the military. i talked to one 8-year-old

tonight. this is his very first concert. he is here with his mom and his dad is about to deploy for the fifth time. okay, m.j., big concert tonight. who are you most excited to see? >> katy perry. >> why is that? >> because i know a lot of her songs like "i'm wide awake." >> this is your first concert tonight? >> yes. >> so, mom, first concert for your two kids. >> yes. >> you live in alexandria, virginia. your husband is about to deploy for the what time? >> fifth time. >> where he is headed? >> to bahraahrain this time. >> the fact this concert is put on for you, little man, and all the military families, how does that feel? >> it is very nice because this is for our family personally this is one of the last things we'll do together before my husband deploys. >> the overall message to our

military members and their family, thank you. >> thank you. looks like she's having as much fun there as those kids. >> of course he came to see katy perry. did you see that outfit? stars and stripes all the way. not bad. so, a big not record crowd expected to show up for the inauguration tomorrow. that means security issues. what does it take to keep all these people safe? we'll take a closer look into the plan for tomorrow's big event. plus, collecting a piece of history. we went in search of some of the most popular inaugural memorabilia. ♪ ♪ ♪ hi dad. many years from now, when the subaru is theirs... hey. you missed a spot.

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good morning, washington, d.c. it all looks so peaceful now. just before 6:30 a.m. on the east. i'm randi kaye. >> i'm john berman here live on the washington mall for our special coverage of the 57th inauguration. today is the day the constitution says that the president must take the oath of office before 12:00 noon. since his second term officially begins at that point. our cnn political team is coveringarve second of preps for the big day. >> yes, they are. we are spread out all over washington. chris lawrence keeping an eye on mall security and athena jones live on capitol hill. >> chris, security is extremely tight for inauguration. we saw even driving here in the wee hours of the morning. how tight is it? >> yeah, john, very tight.

i mean, a lot of folks may be just getting up right now, but not the fl os running security. they have been game planning responses to every conceivable problem and scenario. they brought in about 6,000 national guard troops from around the country. at noon today, the d.c. police will deputize thousands of officers from around the country who have come here to help them. they are also monitoring a live feed of thousands of surveillance cameras showing them exactly what's going on on the mall. but a lot of folks who are coming down here, they have camera concerns of their own, cell phone cameras to be exact. more on that i'll turn it over to my colleague, athena jones. >> hundreds of thousands of people will be descending on the mall tomorrow for the public swearing in ceremony and that means lots and lots of cell phones. cell tone companies are doing their best to bolster their networks. we know at&t, sprint and verizon are deploying what are called c.o.w.s. cells on wheels.

trying to strengthen their network and make sure more messages and texts can go through. there's no guarantee, no absolute guarantee. the best way to get your messages through is to focus on texts. not so much on phone calls or sending photos and videos. back to you, randi. >> all right, athena jones, thank you very much our thanks to chris lawrence. tomorrow millions will watch barack obama tyke take the oath office. you can see it right here on cnn. for some of the 800,000 people lucky enough to be here in washington. this weekend will make for a once in a lifetime opportunity that is even worth paying for to remember. emily schmidt takes a look. >> reporter: an inauguration comes down to this. one hand on a bible, the other raised in an oath. that's the moment in history which makes so many others try to get their hands on this. >> how many different ways can you say you support obama? >> reporter: the presidential inaugural committee store is up

and running. >> i don't like flashy things. >> reporter: ready for shoppers marking the occasion with officially sanctioned made in the usa memorabilia. what are you seeing that you like? >> i like everything and that's my problem because just being such a historic event, i want to have a lot of merchandise to share and a lot of merchandise to give other people who could not, you know, come and visit. >> reporter: it is likely president obama will take the oath of office on what will be a cold january day. people are stocking up on warm sweatshirts and these official hats and even some official blankets. the one thing sold out today, the official tube socks. they're coming in tomorrow, but people point out, still available online. washington is preparing for an expected crowd of about 900,000 people. they'll need to eat, so about 100 permits have been issued for food trucks and vendors. down from the first obama inaugural, but three times as

many as the second president bush event. in business, it is all about location. right here, one block from the white house, it doesn't get much closer to the president. these vendors are preparing for big crowds. they've got 60 of these witness to history t-shirts ready to go. their challenge, they have to sell now because by monday, the day of the inauguration, they'll have to move farther away for security reasons. >> i got the e-mail saying i was selected to be a volunteer, i was excited. ecstatic. >> reporter: silvia norris will be an inaugural volunteer monday. she hasn't been told what she will be doing. she says it doesn't matter. as long as she is there, others are paying so much to have. >> if i could afford it, i would do it. why not? it's all part of history. >> reporter: members of congress are passing out their tickets to the swearing in ceremony. the tickets are free and printed with "not for sale." if you look at craigslist and

ebay, plenty of tickets up for sale, selling memories at a price ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars. emily schmidt, cnn, washington. >> emily got a good look at all those blankets and buttons and we're waiting for the socks right here in this cold weather. >> i could use those for sure. we also wanted to get our own hands on some inaugural stuff around the city. we had our producer michael herd. we ran him all over town to see what people were selling. we have a few things here. john, you want to hold this one? this is an obama bobblehead. are you excited about this speech? >> yes, yes, very excited. >> are you proud of your husband? >> yes, yes, i'm very proud of him. these are about $22 each. >> michelle obama already outdated because now, of course, she has the bangs that everyone is talking about. >> you're right. look at her arms. they are looking good. >> they are. she is cut.

>> even in the bobblehead, she's so cut. these are great to collect. good collector items. he's shaking his head, he agrees. we have a couple more. >> i want to hold on to this one. >> i think you will have to give that back to michael. we also have a presidential bear here. this is about $15. kind of cute, right? >> with the official inaugural seal on it. >> and a signature. >> look at the leg. >> right there. he's got a signature on his leg. >> it's a beanie baby, actually. he is very cute. >> very cute. an adorable presidential bear. >> signature on the leg. very cute. one more. this is big. this is definitely one you want to keep and collect. >> is this the trillion dollar coin? >> no, this is the big gold coin. this is going for how much about? i don't know. $20. all right. about 20 bucks. >> not a trillion dollars. it is 20. >> kind of impressive.

>> it says president of the united states. barack obama, the 44th president of the united states. >> i will be watching you, making sure you don't put that in your pocket. >> i have the bobblehead. >> i think we have even more stuff that our producer even went out and collected. we couldn't put it all here on set with us. a whole bunch of great stuff. if you're here and you want to get around town. look, theres some of it right there. socks. there's the bobbleheads. we showed those. >> his and hers. >> there's the coin, we got that one. that is a nice-looking coin. there is the beanie baby, beanie bear. he is kind of cute. oh, and the towel. >> hand towels. >> yeah. or golf towel maybe. it's pretty nice. would you walk around town wearing -- >> the t-shirts, the buttons are just -- >> with their faces on them. >> the buttons are big. >> i dabble in collecting political memorabilia. >> that's the one. i wonder, is that life size? >> that is pretty big.

especially the buttons, you can go back and look back to this moment in time 20, 25 years ago. people just looked different. if you look clinton's inauguration. the hairstyles, everything is just different. >> yes. >> it's a frozen moment in time. >> a nice way to remember a big day in history, for sure. which is today. today is the private swearing in, but it's certainly a big day for the president, whose official inauguration is today. >> it's the constitution. the 20th amendment says he has to be sworn in by noon today. cnn is all over the official inaug aeration today. tomorrow is a big public party and ceremony. we'll be all over that, too. >> we're not going anywhere. >> we're not going anywhere, ever. if you are attending tomorrow's event, you want to grab a jacket. it is not going to be warm. you want two jackets and a fleece and a sweatshirt. temperatures in the 20s. that is the 20s. tomorrow morning, those 800,000 attendies, no doubt, will be

cold as they line-up for the ceremony, which starts at noon tomorrow. since you're outside for hours, the department of health and human services recommends wearing a hat. that's a good idea and, yes, dress in layers. as we said, today is the official first day of the second term for the president and vice president. and they really do have a busy one ahead. at 8:05 this morning, the vice president will have his official swearing in. and the president will take his oath of office a few hours later at 11:55 a.m. eastern time. at 8:00 p.m. tonight, both the president and vice president along with their wives will attend a candlelight celebration at the national building museum. back home around 9:45 tonight and hopefully the president will get a good night's rest before tomorrow's public events and, of course, that big speech. then it is just time for the parade and the big party after that. certainly a busy day. cnn special coverage of the presidential inauguration continues tonight, by the way, at 8:00 p.m.

we will have a preview of tomorrow's festivities, including the swearing in ceremony and the parade and inaugural balls and very, very busy day. at 9:00 p.m., piers morgan is joined live by members of his inner circle and then at 10:00 anderson cooper 360 live from the national mall here in washington, d.c. you can only catch it on cnn. this weekend, the focus is all about the inauguration. >> but, you know, the next four years that probably concern president obama. all the problems, the potential pit falls and we'll see if history has any lesson s on wha he can expect. sic: "make someon" ♪it's so important to make someone happy.♪ ♪it's so important to make someone happy.♪ ♪make just one someone happy ♪and you will be happy too.

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i just can't get enough of that shot. it's so beautiful. welcome back, everyone. to a very special edition of "early start weekend." 42 minutes past the hour. >> first sign of sunrise here on the national mall in washington, d.c., as we gear up for the 57th presidential inauguration. which, you know, is today. it actually is today. today is the official swearing in of president obama for his second term. it will happen at 11:55 a.m. eastern this morning and, of course, we will bring you live coverage of that ceremony and everything going on around it. but the whole thing got us wondering, how does president obama approval rating compare to his predecessor to the start of their second terms. >> according to "usa today" polls he is at 55%, which is

five points ahead of where george w. bush was in 2005 but seven points behind bill clinton. >> ronald reagan had the same rating as bill clinton at 62% and richard nixon was down to 51% in 1973. both lyndon johnson and dwight eisenhower topped everyone here, they reached the low 70s. they were at 71% and 73% respentively. >> that's pretty impressive. >> those numbers would never exit tod exist today. thousands of people are starting to descend this morning. >> never too early to get ready. this morning, though, we'll look past the oath of office to the next four years. the issues, the plans, the prospects. as joe johns reports, some of the most notorious scandals also happened in the second term. >> reporter: president obama has high hopes for the next four years.

>> i intend to carry out the agenda that i campaigned on. >> reporter: if he wants to reach that goal, history says a second-term president has got to move fast. >> power does seep away from the presidency very quickly in the second term. >> second term presidents and their congresses have two different clocks and the president's clock is now moving towards history and the longer view and he can take more risks. the congressional clock is still going according to the next election. >> reporter: but he can't push too hard. former reagan chief of staff says after a second win, most presidents have an inflated view of their power. >> so you have to figure out ways you can accomplish things and go directionally in the way you're going. realizing that time is an enemy. get as much done as you can, but don't overreach. >> reporter: a lesson president obama promises he learned. >> i'm more than familiar with all the literature about presidential overreach in second

terms. we are very cautious about that. >> reporter: at the same time, he has to battle white house fatigue. >> people get tired. staffers leave. and you lose some institutional memory. >> reporter: above all, avoid scandal. what is known as the second term curse. something quite a few modern day presidents have fallen victim to. >> i am not a crook. >> reporter: for richard nixon, it was watergate. he resigned over the break in and cover up just 18 months after his re-election. >> i did not have sexual relations with that woman. ms. lewinsky. >> reporter: for bill clinton it was the monica lewinsky affair impeached by the house of representatives for lying under oath. clinton got to stay in office when the senate acquitted him. and for ronald reagan, it was iran-contra. >> a few months ago i told the american people i did not trade arms for hostages. my heart and my best intentions

still tell me that is trow, but the facts and evidence tell me it is not. >> reporter: the scandal led to investigations, indictments and a weakened white house for reagan's final two years in office. if somehow president obama avoids all that, there is still a chance of an unforeseen crisis. >> you have to expect the unexpected in the second term. >> reporter: the soviet union shot down an american spy plane during twidwight eisenhower's second term as president. hurricane katrina's destruction of the gulf coast early on. the financial meltdown at the end. and after eight years, those moments of crisis could determine a president's legacy. >> when you're in the second term, you have nothing left to run for, except the place in history. >> reporter: a number of presidents in their second terms have focused heavily on foreign policy and now that mr. obama has begun the job of replacing his outgoing secretaries of state and defense and the

director of the cia, he'll have new faces to work with on his foreign policy team. joe johns, cnn, washington. well, most people who come to washington for president obama's second inauguration are happy just to be able to witness history. but some visitors want a little bit more, like monogrammed pillow cases and a 24-hour butler. who wouldn't want that? you can get it all for a price. we'll tell you about it when we come back. d. earn 1% cash back everywhere, every time. [ both ] 2% back on groceries. [ all ] 3% on gas. no hoops to jump through. i earn more cash back on the things i buy the most. [ woman ] it's as easy as... one! -two. -[ all ] three! [ male announcer ] the bankamericard cash rewards credit card. apply online or at a bank of america near you. are you flo? yes. is this the thing you gave my husband?

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wow, take a look at that. if you are not in front of your television right now, you need to head over there and take an incredible, look at this incredible shot of the sun coming up behind the capitol building. good morning, washington, what a big day it is going to be here for everyone. the beginning of the second term for president barack obama who will be taking his oath of office at 11:55 this morning. and vice president biden will be sworn in just about an hour and a half from now. of course, you can watch these events live right here on cnn. isn't that something? >> it is so beautiful. if you love america and american history, you have to tune in right now. it's fantastic. first lady michelle obama is

well-known for her fashion. some people love the way she dresses and others, well, not so much. and yesterday i spoke with pulitzer price winning columnist who is not one to hold back, john, about the first lady's fashions. take a look. i know you said the first lady is stylish, but you have written in the past here. "more often her clothes are simply lovely frocks, worth admiring in slide shows and picture books, but not worth discussing. fashion is fun. but the nonstop attention to mrs. obama's wardrobe isn't fun. it's exhausting. it's too much." >> i think for me what has happened is that her clothes have been discussed with this kind of feverish fuerber that normally we reserve for celebrities. for people walking down the red

carpet and the celebrity on the way to starbucks. i think when it translates to the first lady, there's a lot of fun with that, but i also think it sort of drains away some of the more substantive things that she could represent for the fashion industry. >> many believe, though, that michelle obama has this style and real accessibility. she can wear anything from target to talbots to jason wu. but you once wrote, again, here. >> my words come back to haunt me. >> "avoiding the appearance of queenly behavior is politically wise. but it does american culture no favors if a first lady tries so hard to be average that she winds up looking common." she wore shorts. >> she was stepping off of air force one and there are like men saluting her and she was in shorts. >> that was not something that you think was appropriate. should she be more formal as a first lady? do you think she's managed to do that?

>> i think early on first ladies, in general, are sort of loathe to think of themselves as sort of removed from the average person. and i think they make an effort to sort of be normal. but the reality is as soon as you step into that bubble. as soon as every picture of yourself becomes part of the public record, you're no longer just normal. so, i don't think that she, you know, that they need to avoid being queenly, necessarily. or they do need to avoid -- i don't think that they need to try so hard to be common. >> can you imagine being in the spotlight that much? every piece of clothing you wear constantly? >> no, i can't. even her nailpolish. even the nail polish that she wore at the democratic national convention created such a stir. >> we didn't even talk about the bangs. >> for another day. first class plane tickets to washington, gowns to wear at the

inaugural balls, even something called a social media butler. >> these are a few of the very expennive perks washington hotels are offering for those who want to experience the in g inauguration in high style. >> reporter: even before the final votes are counted, the planning gets under way. washington's hotels preparing for a really big event. >> inauguration for washington, d.c., is like our super bowl. four days that we really get to play and create amazing moments for our guests. >> reporter: at the ritz-carlton washington, the most excleesive package includes first classa airfare for two to washington, d.c. and four nights in a luxury suite like this one. a tin of cookies made from mrs. obama's recipe and personal styling for the inaugural balls. guests get a survival kit for the parade. a coffee tumbler, hand warmers and scarf. the tab for the package, $100,000.

at the center of the mandarin orientals package, four nights in this $3,500 square foot presidential suite with views of the city's major monuments and 24-hour butler service. with a price tag of $15,000 per night. crowds are expected to be about half of the 1.8 million in 2009. a typical dropoff for a second inaugural. >> it's definitely a little different a second inauguration of a sitting president is always a little more toned down than the first one and 2009 was such a momentous occasion. >> reporter: still at the madison hotel a posh $47,000 package that includes four nights in one of their presidential suite, a car and driver for the length of your star, a private tour of d.c. sites and a social media butler to assist in documenting your big stay during the big event. in washington, i'm karan.

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